Page 35 of Love in Excess

I start flipping through one of the files again, grabbing one of the murders from last year to crosscheck through the database for anything else that happened in Connecticut during that time. The door swings open and we all look up. One of the newer officers, Lawson, stands in the doorway, a file clutched in his hand. “I probably shouldn’t, but you guys are gonna wanna see this,” he says before tossing the file onto the table.

I grab it, my fingers brushing the edges as I flip it open. Photos spill out, grainy shots of the warehouse where we nabbed that drug dealer a few days ago. Some are from last night, just around the time of the murder.

My heart twists as I hit two photos that don’t add up. Timestamped an hour before her death, Carter’s leading a girl inside, her dark hair tied back, the Omega dressed in something that seems out of place for that time of night. Five minutes later, the other picture: Carter walking out, alone, no girl in sight.

“Wait,” I say, my thumb pressing into the photo until it crinkles. “I know her. She used to work at the little bakery just outside the hospital.” I used to stop through there all the time on my way downtown. Lila’s shy smile burns in my mind as she’d hand me my cappuccino. I haven’t been there in a few weeks butI’d remember her anywhere. “The victim was an Omega? None of the reports identified who she was.”

Lawson glares at the feds, his jaw clenched. “Because someone didn’t think it mattered,” he growls out as he steps around the table and drops the other file in front of the feds. “Problem is, the girl Carter walked in with and the girl who died are two different people. Carter’s girl was an Omega. The one who died was a Beta. He’s in the other interrogation room, spouting lies and excuses, but it’s clear he dropped her off.”

“He dropped her off to be killed?” That doesn’t add up either because the chief didn’t mention anything about any other murders or bodies. So, where is Lila?

Ruiz leans over, studying the same picture. He’s just as pissed off as I am. “No, we all know Hex is an opportunist. The kills don’t have a specific pattern when it comes to designation, gender, or age. It’s always random.”

Roberts clicks his tongue, drawing our attention back to him. “What if she just got caught at the wrong time? Wrong place, wrong night?” He starts digging through the photos, lining them up in order of timing before grabbing one and holding it close to his face. The damn guy definitely needs glasses. His brows furrow and then straighten several times before he turns the picture toward us.

It’s Carter walking out, the warehouse door wide open, several figures kneeling in the background, their shapes a little unfocused but unmistakable. “Pretty sure some of those are other Omegas,” Roberts says, pointing at the figures. “I recognize one. I only remember because on his application to the department he was taking criminology at Northvale.”

Ruiz's face pales beside me. “I hate to say it, but it might explain why Carter was after Celeste and it has nothing to do with you, Hunter.”

This was the last thing I expected to find in Northvale. Murder, sure. Drugs, definitely. But a serial killer andtrafficking?Absolutely not. I push to my feet after swiping a few of the pictures and stalk toward the entrance of the room. “Yeah, Lawson, you shouldn’t have brought that information in here because Carter’s about to be paint on the walls.”

Ruiz groans from behind me as I make my way down the hall, other officers giving me space. The moment I step into the back area of the interrogation room, however, the officer in charge is suddenly on alert. I blow past him as well, yanking the door open to see Carter yelling about his innocence as the chief sits across from him.

My fist slams into Carter’s face, a solid crack echoing in the small room. His head snaps back, blood spraying from his lip, and I pull back for another hit, ready to make him feel every last bit of anger coursing through my body. The chief grabs me by the shoulders and drags me back before thrusting me against the wall, his arm against my chest. “Hunter, that’snothow we do things here!” he barks in my face.

I throw my hands up in surrender, the chief backing off slightly. “Well, this piece of shit was trying to take my Omega from me,” I snarl, my eyes locked on Carter. “Tell me, was it to sell her or just to save your own ass?”

Carter spits blood onto the table, glaring at me, but his eyes betray him. Fear flickers in those dark eyes. He’s not scared of me; he’s scared because I know. He went after Celeste to cover his own tracks, to save his sorry hide from whatever bullshit he had gotten himself into. My hands clench at my side, the urge to hit him again nearly overwhelming, but the chief’s hand falls to my shoulder again, holding me in place.

“Chief, disrespectfully, Carter’s nothing but scum. I used to like you, Carter. Used to think you had a lot going for you, but this? You can’t come back from this.”

The chief’s grip tightens on my shoulder, demanding that I look at him. “What are you talking about?”

I chuck the pictures onto the table and slam them onto the table, Carter very obviously walking Lila into that warehouse. “He’s delivered a fucking Omega to the very warehouse we found the victimandwhere the dealer was picked up. There were other people in there too. Omegas, definitely. Maybe also Betas. I don’t know.” I shake the chief off of me, my hands raised again to let him know I’m not going to do anything else. “Don’t worry about firing me or giving me leave or whatever. I’m taking time off for my Omega’s heat. Until then, though? We’re going to save those other people. I don’t care what kind of force you have to get together, but I’m not having that bullshit on my conscience.”

The chief shrugs, sitting across from me, his shoulders heavy. “We’ve only got evidence of one girl,” he says, his voice grim. “Even if that picture with the others means more, we can’t make that leap without more from Carter. It’s exactly what it looks like, but we need proof.”

HUNTER

I barely make it back to the conference room, photos crinkled in my fist, before Ruiz stops me, shaking his head. “If you weren’t so damn good at your job, you would’ve just fucked everything up.”

I just shrug. “When it comes to dealinghumans, I don’t really give a fuck. But I think there’s someone else I need to talk to.” I gesture to the locked cells at the back of the precinct, Ruiz grinning at that idea. “And as much as I’d like to take you, I’m stealing Lawson. He’s a bit more… straightlaced. You’d let me beat him before telling me it was too much.”

Ruiz fakes hurt as he gasps. “I would not.”

“Ruiz, you let me just storm into an active interrogation and punch a suspect.”

“Yeah, fair.”

I quickly step into the room to grab Lawson, Benji mentioning that he’ll go with us since the drug dealer is currently part of a federal investigation. Whatever lets me into that area with that guy, I don’t really care at this point.

The few steps down the hall, I start running through the possible scenario that those individuals never left the dock to begin with. Benji cuts me off as if he knows what I’m thinking. “We scoured the docks, pulled apart everything. There was nothing found other than the drugs and Mr. Holden who’s currently in the cell.”

Lawson unlocks the door but I hesitate, turning around to face Benji. “Has this never come up with any of the other murders?”

Benji shakes his head. “None of this has ever had a connection. The arrest and murder are always on different days and there’s never been a missing person report that makes any real sense. To be honest, the few of you have pulled more out in 24 hours than the team has in over a year.”

That doesn’t give me a lot of hope.

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